Smith and the Pharaohs, and other TalesHaggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
General
Smith and the Pharaohs, and other Tales
Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
Adventure stories, English; Fantasy fiction, English; Short stories, English
Also Smith is wondering whether any other bronze figure of an old
Egyptian royalty shows so high a percentage of gold as, on analysis,
the broken image of Ma-Mee was proved to do. For had she not seemed to
tell him a tale of the melting of a golden chain when that effigy was
cast?
Was it all only a dream, or was it—something more—by day and by
night he asks of Nothingness?
But, be she near or far, no answer comes from the Queen Ma-Mee, whose
proud titles were “Her Majesty the Good God, the justified Dweller in
Osiris; Daughter of Amen, Royal Heiress, Royal Sister, Royal Wife,
Royal Mother; Lady of the Two Lands; Wearer of the Double Crown; of the
White Crown, of the Red Crown; Sweet Flower of Love, Beautiful
Eternally.”
So, like the rest of us, Smith must wait to learn the truth concerning
many things, and more particularly as to which of those two circles of
ancient gold the Director-General gave him yonder at Cairo.
It seems but a little matter, yet it is more than all the worlds to him!
To the astonishment of his colleagues in antiquarian research, Smith has
never returned to Egypt. He explains to them that his health is quite
restored, and that he no longer needs this annual change to a more
temperate clime.
Now, _which_ of the two royal rings did the Director-General return to
Smith on the mummied hand of her late Majesty Ma-Mee?
MAGEPA THE BUCK
In a preface to a story of the early life of the late Allan Quatermain,
known in Africa as Macumazahn, which has been published under the name
of “Marie,” Mr. Curtis, the brother of Sir Henry Curtis, tells of
how he found a number of manuscripts that were left by Mr. Quatermain
in his house in Yorkshire. Of these “Marie” was one, but in
addition to it and sundry other completed records I, the Editor to whom
it was directed that these manuscripts should be handed for
publication, have found a quantity of unclassified notes and papers.
Some of these deal with matters that have to do with sport and game, or
with historical events, and some are memoranda of incidents connected
with the career of the writer, or with remarkable occurrences that he
had witnessed of which he does not speak elsewhere.
One of these notes—it is contained in a book much soiled and worn that
evidently its owner had carried about with him for years—reminds me of
a conversation that I had with Mr. Quatermain long ago when I was his
guest in Yorkshire. The note itself is short; I think that he must have
jotted it down within an hour or two of the event to which it refers.
It runs thus:—
“I wonder whether in the ‘Land Beyond’ any recognition is
granted for acts of great courage and unselfish devotion—a kind of
spiritual Victoria Cross. If so I think it ought to be accorded to that
poor old savage, Magepa, as it would be if I had any voice in the
matter. Upon my word he has made me feel proud of humanity. And yet he
was nothing but a ‘nigger,’ as so many call the Kaffirs.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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